Friday, August 12, 2011

Thursday, August 11, 2011

The Battle for the Isle of Skye left the Wild Fleet in quite a depleted state.

The battleship squadron, that made the bulk of the task force is almost completely out of service: while both the Star of Summer and the Ghost Star, even with different levels of damage, will be eventually back on duty, the Star of Winter will require months of drydock to be again fully operational, and it is not yet sure she will ever be.

Only the Star of Christmas, among the big ships, not being in Winterfell that day, is currently available. She was quickly recalled from her away duties and she is now stationed in Eventide, near the new dock. Even so the squadron is down to just two ships, and only the Star of Christmas is a capital ship, being the other the Starburts, an escort vessel that, even if not incapacitated, took its own damages during the battle.

The High Seas squadron has taken its beating too. The Battle Star, from which I directed the operations is completely dismasted, after ramming into the Vulgarian flagship during the final assault, and the Discovery Star is still missing after being wiped away by an enemy broadside. Despite rescue missions in Harbour, Libris and Undertow we have been unable to identify the position of any wreck, so her fate, as well as Baldr's, who was commanding the ship, is still unknown.

With these losses the first division of the squadron is all but operational, and will be so for some time.

Division 2 and Division 3 were not deployed, not being in Winterfell at the time of the battle, but with the Hunting Star supporting the operations of the special ops squadron near Bay City, only the Sailing Star is left to operate in home waters.

Division 3 was left untouched but with just a sloop and a schooner it is the division with the lightest firepower.

It is therefore necessary to accelerate the commissioning of new ships, both for present and future needs, since the battle has demonstrated that a major engagement can easily push the fleet to its limits.

Three the new ships have been ordered, whose name will be: Shining Star, Twilight Star and Grand Star. The last one will be a capital ship in the same firepower class of the Battle Star, in order to provide an alternative should the flagship of the High Seas squadron be incapacitated.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Waiting for the detailed story that is coming in episodes from Lady Eva, here are some details on the navals actions during the battle for the isle of Skye, as seen from the deck of the Battle Star who was leading the Wild Fleet task force involved in the battle.

All hands got up early on Saturday morning. We knew the Vulgarian fleet was close and all the reports were pointing towards Saturday as the day of the clash.The fleet was deployed NE of the Isle of Skye with all the water of Libris and Undertow to give us a good maneuverability. The most probable direction of approach of the Vulgarians was from the north, along the eastern coast of Harbour. If so we would be ready to welcome them.The Battle Star, the Ghost Star, the Star Burst and the Discovery Star made the bulk of the task force. Later Miss Serra reinforced us with her Twilight Rose. The Star of Winter and the Star of Summer operated independently, away from the main force ready to intervene if necessary.Lady Eva had her ground forces assembled in her castle and her batteries were ready to cover the sea below. Overall we felt rather ready.Despite that it was a messy affair: the Vulgarian humbugged us! They fainted a descent along the eastern coast of Harbor, as we expected, and we moved to face them. However it was just a deception. While we got ready to intercept, the Vulgarian fleet came down the Harbour canal and took us in the rear of the formation.The Star of Winter did what she could to delay the enemy actions but found herself under the fire of the entire enemy fleet. In minutes she was badly damaged and partially sunk.Soon the rest of the fleet started to take hits while still maneuvering to be able to return fire.Despite the surprise, our deployment still proved to be strategically superior: we were keeping the gate to open waters and the Vulgarians were constrained in the narrows, unable to fully exploit the their firepower else hit each other.Lady Eva started to hammer the ships from her battlements, despite being in turn under the fire of a Vulgarian airship. We started to return fire as well. The exchanges were ferocious. Each ship on either side took damage and soon fire was visible on every deck.The Ghost Star was hit badly and soon started to lean on one side.The Vulgarians tried to force their way into the eastern waters but we were able to force them back. Now we had the advantage. Their only way out was to retreat and give way to our pursuit.A consulate airship materialized to even the chances on the sky. The vulgarian airship had to back off and Lady Eva boarded the friendly airship to have herself dropped on the enemy flagship, while a boarding party down from the slopes of the isle approached the enemy ships aboard a gunboat. We decided to support this action and pierce deep into the enemy formation. The Battle Star moved to ram into the Vulgarian flagship, while the Discovery Star followed to support her. An enemy broadside wiped the Discovery Star from the sea. She disappeared from the fight, missing and probably sunk. Captain Baldr is still missing. Despite the fire the Battle Star was able to gain speed and she rammed hard into the side if the enemy flagship, loosing all her masts because of the violence of the impact.By now all the ships were constrained into a small space and the boarding parties were able to jump from deck to deck as one single battlefield.It was all swords and musketfire by then. The fight was long and bloody, but by now it was clear that the battle was won. Despite our losses the Vulgarian fleet was shattered and no longer able to operate as a fighting unit. We had the control of the deck of their flagship and the other ships were either sunk or on fire. The few ships still seaworthy tried to brake free and gain once again the northern waters to disengage. The Star of Summer and the Star Burst pursued them, sinking one before having to give up because of the heavy damages on the Star of Summer.It was over. The butcher's tally was heavy but we had won. The Vulgarian were no longer a serious threat.